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. inouye, president pro tempore. mr.reid:madampresident?the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in morning business until 10:30 this morning. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of s. 1867. the filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the defense bill is 10:30 a.m. today. at about 11:00 there will be a cloture vote on 1867. it's my understanding the vote will be at 11:00. is that right, madam president? the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. reid: not about 11:00 it will be at 11:00. we'll continue work through the pending amendments. senators levin and mccain are the managers of this bill. senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. madam president, there was a little void here from 10:30 till the vote. that will be debate time on the motion to invoke cloture on the defense bill. madam president, the republicans love to talk about taxes. they like them low. we like them high. or so they would have you believe. by that logic, republicans ought to be lining up to s

. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in morning business until 10:30 this morning. following morning business the senate will resume consideration of s. 1867. the filing deadline for second-degree amendments to the defense bill is 10:30 a.m. today. at about 11:00 there will be a cloture vote on 1867. it's my understanding the vote will be at 11:00. is that right, madam...

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: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr.reid:madampresident,i ask unanimous consent 25 the senator from connecticut,, a man who is an everyday example to all of us and whose observance to his religion is something we all admire, senator lieberman. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair, i thank our leader and i would say he and i have had many conversations about things political which will not surprise anyone hearing me speak but perhaps people will be surprised senator reid and i have probably had as many conversations about matters spiritual and personal and those conversations tie us together really forever. it is my honor to welcome to the senate jonathan sacks, the chief rabbi of the united kingdom, and to thank our extraordinary chaplain, barry black, for joining me in hosting the chief rabbi. the truth is that i knew commander in chief rabbi sacks from his writings before i knew him personally. he's written 24 books, the most recent of which was published earlier this year called "the great partnership, god, science, an

: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president, i ask unanimous consent 25 the senator from connecticut,, a man who is an everyday example to all of us and whose observance to his religion is something we all admire, senator lieberman. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair, i thank our leader and i would say he and i have had many conversations about things political which will not surprise anyone hearing me speak but perhaps...

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duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr.reid:madampresident?the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour. the majority will control the first half. the republicans the final half. following morning business, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 2354, which is the energy and water appropriations bill. we need to work on an agreement for the bill. i'll advise senators when votes are scheduled. madam president, we are -- we have a lot of work to do in the next few days. we cannot have the defense authorization bill eat up a lot of time after we get back from the recess that we have for thanksgiving, so everyone should understand we're going to move forward on the defense authorization bill. it may not be tomorrow, it may not be the next day, but we have to do it before we have easter -- i'm sorry, easter ... thanksgiving. i hope everyone understands. i know everyone wants to get home for thanks giving. we all do. but we have an obligation here. the ch

duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks, the senate will be in a period of morning business for an hour. the majority will control the first half. the republicans the final half. following morning business, the senate resume consideration of h.r. 2354, which is the energy and water appropriations bill. we need to work on an agreement for the bill. i'll advise...

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consideration of the energy and water appropriations bill. as i indicatedyesterday,madampresident,we have a lot to do. thanksgiving is the week after tomorrow, and we have lots of things we have to complete. we're going to -- i gave my word that we're going to do the defense authorization bill. i'm going to -- there's -- it hasn't been worked out to the satisfaction of everyone, but there comes a time when we have to stop negotiating and move to the legislation. and we're going to do that. following our finishing the next minibus we have. it would be wonderful if we could complete that quickly. as i indicated yesterday, i'm not going to fill the ledgive tree on this, but i don't know how much time we're going to be able to spend on this with never-ending amendments. what i'd like to do is what we've done in the past is have people offer amendments, but we have to have some kind of a limit that will be self-imposed that will have maybe ten stacked amendments and figure out some way to dispose of those before we move to another batch of amendments. anyway we'll work our way through tha

consideration of the energy and water appropriations bill. as i indicated yesterday, madam president, we have a lot to do. thanksgiving is the week after tomorrow, and we have lots of things we have to complete. we're going to -- i gave my word that we're going to do the defense authorization bill. i'm going to -- there's -- it hasn't been worked out to the satisfaction of everyone, but there comes a time when we have to stop negotiating and move to the legislation. and we're going to do that....

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day willbe.madampresident,i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the previous order, following the next vote, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations. calendar number 353 and 356. that there be two minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form following that debate of calendar number 356 -- following that debate, calendar number 356 be confirmed, the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action on calendar number 353 with the provision of the previous order remaining in effect, and that the next two votes be ten minutes in duration. the presiding officer: without objection. the question is on the motion to proceed to s. 1786. under the previous order, 60 votes are required to adopt this motion. two minutes equally divided on the debate. who yields? who yields back? who yields time? two minutes equally divided. mrs. boxer: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from california. order in the senate, please. please take your conversations out of the well. the senate is not in order. please take your conversa

day will be. madam president, i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the previous order, following the next vote, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the following nominations. calendar number 353 and 356. that there be two minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form following that debate of calendar number 356 -- following that debate, calendar number 356 be confirmed, the senate proceed to vote with no intervening action on calendar number 353 with the...

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perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr.durbin:madampresident?the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, following leader remarks, the senate will be in morning business for 70 minutes with the republicans controlling the first 40 minutes and the majority controlling the final 30 minutes. following morning business the senate will consider the motion to proceed to the senate joint resolution regarding net neutrality. upon the use or yielding back of time the senate will resume debate on h.r. 674, the 3% withholding repeal act with the veterans jobs amendment. madam president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: later today the senate will take up s.j. res., senator hutch hutchison's disapproval of the regulati

perform the duties of the chair. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. durbin: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: madam president, following leader remarks, the senate will be in morning business for 70 minutes with the republicans controlling the first 40 minutes and the majority controlling the final 30 minutes. following morning business the senate will consider the motion to proceed to the senate joint resolution regarding net...

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:madampresident?isn't it true that justice o'connor was specifically referring to a case for a person captured on long island? last i checked, long island was part -- albeit sometimes regrettably -- part of the united states of america? mr. levin: part of the quirin case in which one of detainees was -- mr. mccain: captured in the united states of america. that's the fangts of the case. facts of the case. i am afraid we have to move to the merkley amendment. mr. levin: according it a unanimous consent agreement which was entered into -- the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: i understand that senator merkley was going to be recognized next to offer his amendment. sthafs according to the u.c. i understand the senator from new hampshire -- i don't know how long he needed to make an unanimous consent request -- am i correct? i've been corrected. according to the existing unanimous consent -- mr. mccain: could i ask the indumindulgence of the senator m oregon that the senator from south carolina be allowed two minutes and the senator from new hampshire be allo

: madam president? isn't it true that justice o'connor was specifically referring to a case for a person captured on long island? last i checked, long island was part -- albeit sometimes regrettably -- part of the united states of america? mr. levin: part of the quirin case in which one of detainees was -- mr. mccain: captured in the united states of america. that's the fangts of the case. facts of the case. i am afraid we have to move to the merkley amendment. mr. levin: according it a...

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credo.madampresident,if that were true the last administration would have been the most prosperous in our history because that is the message and philosophy and agenda that guided the bush administration. instead, in the words of "the wall street journal," not exactly a democratic publication , george w. bush's administration produced the worst jobs record on record. we've tried this. it doesn't work. we've seen this movie, we know how it ends. this notion of protecting millionaires from any taxes and repealing any laws related to the regulation of our economy just didn't work under the bush administration and shouldn't be tried again. madam president, the reason two million americans are out of work has nothing to do with excessive financial or environmental regulation. if anything, our economy is hurting because we don't have the appropriate regulation in place now to avoid the excesses of the past. to say that we can't create jobs without creating dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in our air and water is an absolutely false choice. we've got to find an approach that protects t

credo. madam president, if that were true the last administration would have been the most prosperous in our history because that is the message and philosophy and agenda that guided the bush administration. instead, in the words of "the wall street journal," not exactly a democratic publication , george w. bush's administration produced the worst jobs record on record. we've tried this. it doesn't work. we've seen this movie, we know how it ends. this notion of protecting...

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chairman senator levin. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: first ofall,madampresident,i would like to again thank you for the -- mr. chairman, i would like to thank you for the long years of work we have had together and that which is coming together after a long year of obstacles. i want to thank you for the spirit of bipartisanship which is a long tradition in the committee which was practiced by our predecessors. obviously, we know on occasion we have differences of views and sometimes we especially need to express those in perhaps a passionate manner, but the fact is at the end of the day, we continue to come together and work together for the good of this nation's security. and the reason why i ask senator levin is because i think our colleagues ought to understand the context of this bill. first of all, it is a new bill and it has a reduction of some $20 billion in authorization in order to keep with the budget control act, and a total now of $27 billion reduction, which is a significant amount of money. and it seems to me that our colleagues should un

chairman senator levin. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mccain: first of all, madam president, i would like to again thank you for the -- mr. chairman, i would like to thank you for the long years of work we have had together and that which is coming together after a long year of obstacles. i want to thank you for the spirit of bipartisanship which is a long tradition in the committee which was practiced by our predecessors. obviously, we know on occasion we have differences of...

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,madampresident,is something significant has happened over the last several weeks. i hope it is the beginning of a trend. one way to make sure this trend continues to the benefit of consumers and families and small businesses all across america is to make sure that richard corderi is appointed as the head of the consumer financial protection bureau. this, to me, is an agency which can continue this battle. on behalf of consumers. it is literally the only consumer protection agency in the federal government. now, many on the other side of the aisle don't like it. they don't believe in strong government oversight of these financial institutions on wall street. i disagree. i think americans deserve to be given the basic information about their financial transactions so that with that information they can make their own decisions. i'm not saying that government should steer them one way or another, but at least give us the basic information. let me decide the best bank for my family. let me decide the best credit card or debit card for me family or my business. that's all we can ask. fi

, madam president, is something significant has happened over the last several weeks. i hope it is the beginning of a trend. one way to make sure this trend continues to the benefit of consumers and families and small businesses all across america is to make sure that richard corderi is appointed as the head of the consumer financial protection bureau. this, to me, is an agency which can continue this battle. on behalf of consumers. it is literally the only consumer protection agency in the...

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.leahy:madampresident,i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, i've mentioned this to the distinguished republican floor leader, and i would ask consent that i be allowed to speak for a few minutes as in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, at some point i hope we'll bring up the state and foreign operations subcommittee's appropriations bill. the reason i say that, it has a key national security -- has several key national security components. let me mention a couple of the national security programs that it supports. it supports our nation's counterterrorism strategy in south asia, the horn of africa and the far east. it responds to turbulent events in the middle east, north africa, even threats on the mexican border. it combats transnational crime, piracy of intellectual property and the denial of fundamental freedom. it promotes access for u.s. companies to foreign markets. very importantly, it operates to secure our pwaepl seus and our -- embas

. leahy: madam president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, i've mentioned this to the distinguished republican floor leader, and i would ask consent that i be allowed to speak for a few minutes as in morning business. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, at some point i hope we'll bring up the state and foreign operations subcommittee's appropriations bill. the reason i...

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neutrality for a long time, you've heard mesay,madampresident,over and over again how net neutrality is about keeping the internet the way it is. but the truth of the matter is that the f.c.c. rules while a step in the right direction are very conservative. i wish the f.c.c. had done more but the f.c.c. wanted to reach a consensus. and they made a concerted effort to address many concerns of telecommunications companies, large and small. when they drafted these rules. for our opponents to now claim that the f.c.c. ignored public opinion or failed to consider the impact that these rules would have on businesses, it's just -- it's just not true. first, i think we can all stand a bit of history on the bipartisan nature of this rule. net neutrality was something two republican chairmen of the f.c.c., michael powell and kevin martin, championed in 2004 and 2005. chairman powell first articulated a set of net neutrality principles and chairman martin a year later achieved unanimous commission endorsement of the f.c.c.'s open internet policy statement. in 2006, 11 house republicans voted in fa

neutrality for a long time, you've heard me say, madam president, over and over again how net neutrality is about keeping the internet the way it is. but the truth of the matter is that the f.c.c. rules while a step in the right direction are very conservative. i wish the f.c.c. had done more but the f.c.c. wanted to reach a consensus. and they made a concerted effort to address many concerns of telecommunications companies, large and small. when they drafted these rules. for our opponents to...

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has expired. the gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes. >> thankyou,madamchairwoman.i'm not going to go through a lot of the end of the controls but i am shocked my colleague indicated that we only learned one thing. one thing about, one thing about internal controls is one in turn the control does not fix things. julie would have three or four thank you the opportunity catch things. so even though there'll be a potential, three bits, and maybe somebody could change or get the other person to change his bid, if you still do site visits, i've done about construction, everything i've ever worked with went out and did site visits. -third party companies go out and do an unannounced review of my projects. and i've had random visits, all these things are part of internal controls but you can't pick just one thing. here's what we learned today. we have some fraud. i don't know what it is. and again it sounds like if you know to never is, we talked about 14%, it could be 2%, 5%. if it's 1 dollar we can stop it is a problem. the taxpayers that i represent are not happy whet

has expired. the gentleman from ohio is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, madam chairwoman. i'm not going to go through a lot of the end of the controls but i am shocked my colleague indicated that we only learned one thing. one thing about, one thing about internal controls is one in turn the control does not fix things. julie would have three or four thank you the opportunity catch things. so even though there'll be a potential, three bits, and maybe somebody could change or...

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you have some comments that you would like to make at this time. mr. alexander: thankyou,madamchairwoman.the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: as she usually does the senator from california said directly what the situation is. we understand on the republican side that the majority leader has some important business he has to make sure that the senate finishes this week. we, as do many democrats, would like for us to get to the defense authorization bill before we go -- before we go home. and senator reid would like to do that. we respect that, and we agree with that. senator reid would like to make sure that we have a chance to deal with the conference report that the house is expected to pass on thursday, and which contains a continuing resolution to fund the government until mid-december. we need that as well. that gives us a little time here, a day or two, to consider the energy and water appropriations bill. that senator feinstein described t. has broad consensus in the senate. it has no mandatory spending in it. it has an important defense co

you have some comments that you would like to make at this time. mr. alexander: thank you, madam chairwoman. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: as she usually does the senator from california said directly what the situation is. we understand on the republican side that the majority leader has some important business he has to make sure that the senate finishes this week. we, as do many democrats, would like for us to get to the defense authorization bill before...

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of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr.grassley:madampresident,i ask unanimous consent to speak for what time i might consume but it probably would be in the neighborhood of 20 or 25 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: today i'd like to take a few moments to talk about the importance of oversight work of the congress, and it's a very critical function of congress. as one of the three branches of government, congress is a very important pillar of our government. our system provides for checks and balances between the three branches of government. not only do we here in the congress legislate, but we must make sure that the other two branches are not overstepping their power. and that's the function of oversight. i've been conducting oversight of the executive branch since i first came to the senate. i take oversight very seriously. it's often an overlooked function for members of congress. it's not a glamorous function. it's a lot of hard work. some people have said recently that my oversight work is political. quite

of the quorum be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: madam president, i ask unanimous consent to speak for what time i might consume but it probably would be in the neighborhood of 20 or 25 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: today i'd like to take a few moments to talk about the importance of oversight work of the congress, and it's a very critical function of congress. as one of the three branches of government, congress is a very...

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director michaelandmadamelless. for michael linen trusten this one my question is how are we going to define a stabilization mission, veazey war. are there differences in letter sending ground troops or not and also in terms of the budget preparations. my question for madam alice i've seen reports about millionaires going to the congress asking to tax more and earlier before that said rich people have been called. why do they do that and say that and is it going to produce any affect in terms of implementing the congress decisions on the budget cuts? >> i think you raise something of a quandary. it's absolutely true that the income distribution has gotten much more unequal over the last couple of decades and longer but particularly recently when incomes have been growing slowly if at all and lower income people have been falling behind over quite a long period and the top 1% so it's very tempting to say let's go after the top 1%. the question is held to do that. whether you have a surtax on millionaires were warren buffett's idea was actually quite limited. it was make sure t

director michael and madame l less. for michael linen trusten this one my question is how are we going to define a stabilization mission, veazey war. are there differences in letter sending ground troops or not and also in terms of the budget preparations. my question for madam alice i've seen reports about millionaires going to the congress asking to tax more and earlier before that said rich people have been called. why do they do that and say that and is it going to produce any affect in...